Our story - part II

So I'm fighting to not take epidural, a pain medication thinking that I could voluntarily avoid medical interventions. Wrong choice, i know that now. So this pain inducing drug works slow, so slow that I saw three nurses change shifts and adjust the level of pictocine. And finally a South African nurse was trying to convince me to take epidural, that way they could increase my level of pictocine. She was telling me that my contractions were not sufficient to induce dilation.

So eventually I give up and take epidural and then more unexpected and unheard of medical interventions followed. I could hear muffed voices as I was feeling too week, they were trying to reach my doctor who was suggesting them to use some kind of equipment to check the effacement. What was worrying was hearing that the baby was not descending.

I was praying as hard as I can, after all that was the only thing I could do apart from crying. Aravind and my mother were with me trying to tell me that everything will be fine. Watching me cry and not being able to help would have made them feel worst but my senses were far too broken apart to understand their feelings. Many a times I react and later regret and this was again one such occasion. But at least I'm learning.

The nurses were also getting all tensed up, I know its unlike a nurse but after all they are humans. After hours and hours of pictocine, I was 7 cm dilated. Things could have progressed had the baby showed signs of descending. But God alone knew why its not easy for the baby and yet He decided to just watch what we do.

After I think close to 24 hours, which is the highest time given for a delivery after the mothers water breaks, suddenly the nurses rush into my triage room. They was trying to work on the monitors all around me and on my belly. They said something about heart rate dropping. One of the nurses left quickly to call my doctor and came back saying that I'll be taken for a c-section. I think that was it. I lot my sense for good. I was no longer praying, but fighting with God.
I've been working hard to keep myself healthy throughout pregnancy but I end up here? Why was this happening to me?

Nobody could console me, my mother walked out crying and Aravind who was strong, stronger than I had ever imagined he would be. He stayed with me trying so hard to make me stop crying. He was telling me that for now its the baby's health and a safe delivery that's very important. And that it was perfectly normal to have a c-section. And the same lines everything will be alright.

But I was just not ready, I could never accept it. My doctor walked in, it was probably 5:40 am on October 29th 2010. She said we have to do a c-section as the baby's heart rate was dropping a couple of times and the critical issue is the baby is not descending. I was begging her to give me some more time and try increasing the pictocine and that I don't want a c-section. But she just said "Geetha I wish I could give you time but then again I don't want to take a risk".

They wheeled me in for the surgery and within minutes Sripathi breathed his first hospital air. It was 6:07 am. We heard him wail and the next thing I heard was the doctor mention that I could never have delivered him vaginally as his head was too large. Too large as per normal standards that he was rushed for an MRI within 4 hours of birth. But once delivered, the nurse cleaned Sripathi and brought him to me and placed his cheek near my lips, for me to kiss him. He looked cute, amazingly cute. After an hour or so i held him in the recovery room.

Our Story - part I

Well it was around 4:30 am when I woke up to go to the bathroom. Its quite common when you are 38 weeks pregnant. But the next time around I remember jumping out of the bed as I had a feeling I was peeing in the bed. It was 7:30 am and I rushed to the bathroom. I came back and woke up Aravind and told him "is this how it feels when the water breaks?" He calls the gynecologists answering system. And boy oh boy was I waiting to hear her. Finally after 20 odd minutes the doctor returns the call and I ask her the same question. She told me to use a sanitary pad and check after 30 - 40 minutes to see if the pad is wet. If it is then it means someone is ready to peek into this world soon.


So I use the pad and decide to go for a walk with my dad. Not a nice idea, but I just could not sit. As if we walk, every 3 minutes i was like "maybe I have to check or maybe if I continue to walk it will be fine". Eventually my dad had heard enough so we return home in around 15 minutes. So when I checked things were not unusual so Aravind decides to leave to work and just as he was getting ready to leave I start to feel uneasy, it was like why take a chance and so I decide to be taken to the hospital. Dad, Aravind and I leave to the hospital while my mom is preparing lunch.


As we arrive at the hospital, Aravind asks me to go to the emergency entry and tell the nurse my situation. As i get out of the car, Aravind was like "uh-oh Radhe your pants are really wet". So I'm like still hoping that I'm just leaking pee and not amniotic fluid. I don't want to delivery like this. I cannot accept my water bag breaking. But it was meant to be. The nurse wheels me to the triage room and they test the liquid with some kind of paper, if the color of the paper turns blue it means the liquid is amniotic fluid. I had butterflies in my stomach when I saw the blue tinged paper.



Well this is it then. So I'm in the hospital and the IV was administered to start the pain inducing medication. The medical interventions that i never wanted to experience began. It was all happening exactly the way i never wanted it to happen. I was getting a little depressed. But cheering myself up that it will be over soon, all I want is my baby. I started praying that i deliver soon and go home with my baby. Maybe this is how God intended it to be or maybe my prayers were not fervent.